Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure that the UK will (a) be able to continue to participate in European Reference Networks and (b) co-operate with the EU on the development of rare disease care and treatment in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

In the July 2018 white paper ‘The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union’, the Government set out its aim to explore continued participation in European Reference Networks as part of a future agreement on science and innovation. The European Commission have shown that they recognise the significant expertise of UK clinicians. Both sides appreciate the importance of maintaining UK participation. The UK and the EU have a long track record of jointly tackling global challenges with strong existing links between our research and innovation communities. The Government wants to continue the joint EU and UK benefit realised from this shared collaboration on research and innovation.